Before you go shopping for Mother’s Day, here are 21 really bad gifts:

1. Diet or fitness products
I don’t think anyone’s eyes have lit up after unwrapping an Ab Roller. Ditto goes for a gym membership. Don’t ever suggest your mom is fat, and definitely don’t do it on Mother’s Day.

2. Wrinkle cream
Did your mom give you acne products for your birthday? I hope not. If you give her wrinkle cream, you’re telling her she’s both old and wrinkly. Let mom buy her own cosmetics and creams.

4. A new pet
Giving mom a new puppy means more bills, more worries and more responsibilities. If your mom really loves animals, consider making a donation in her name to the local animal shelter or the ASPCA.

5. Cleaning equipment
Your mom is not your maid. Don’t ruin her day by telling her she’s great at cleaning and should do more of it.

6. Bath stuff
As a teenager, I gave my mom gift baskets of bath products. Every. Single. Year. I would spot them in her room months later, unopened. The lesson? My mom already had her own soaps and shampoos she used regularly, and she didn’t have any use for my gifts, however well-intentioned. Let mom choose her own bath products.

7. Potpourri
It might smell nice to you, but it could be an allergen to mom. Several people I know can’t walk into a Crabtree & Evelyn without getting a headache. If you’re not 100 percent sure, skip it.

8. Kitchen appliances
If your mother specifically asked for a new KitchenAid stand mixer, by all means go for it. But otherwise, Mother’s Day isn’t the time to ask for a free homemade meal.

9. Perfume
Chances are you don’t know exactly what your mom is looking for in a scent, and you could buy something she wouldn’t pick herself. If your mom already wears perfume, that’s the perfume she wants. Don’t make her feel obligated to switch scents because you got her a new smell.

10. Snarky signs
However well-intentioned those humorous signs are, many of them come off as snarky. While you might think a sign about cooking is great for the kitchen, or a sign about good moms keeping messy homes is great for her bedroom, she’ll probably see it as your way of saying she should do more around the house. Not the message you want to send on Mother’s Day.

11. Things that remind her of her mother
Shower caps, muumuus, flowery bathrobes — these might have been appropriate gifts for women of another generation, like your mother’s mom, but not now. You don’t want to dress like your grandparents’ generation, and neither does she.

12. A self-help book
Talk about a condescending gift: Getting her a book about building better relationships or other ways she could improve herself is a really bad idea.

13. A gift card or certificate
They’re impersonal, and you run the risk of giving her one for a store or restaurant she doesn’t really like. Instead, take her out to dinner at her favorite restaurant. She’ll enjoy it and you’ll actually spend time with her.

14. Money
Even more impersonal than a gift card, money essentially says, “I don’t know what you want or like, but this buys stuff.” You can do better than that.

15. Clothes
You don’t know her measurements, do you? If you do, that’s creepy. I don’t wear the clothes my mother buys me (sorry, mom! Happy Mother’s Day?) and she’ll likely have the same reaction to the clothes you choose for her.

16. An empty photo frame
This gift tells her you don’t have any memorable moments with her. Even worse: A framed photo of you.

17. A really big painting
Art is personal, and what your mother displays in her house is tailored to her tastes. Unless you’re absolutely sure she wants a 56-inch Vincent van Gogh print, don’t risk it. She’ll feel obliged to hang it in her home even if she dislikes it.

18. Wine and food pairing
Like roses, this is not appropriate for Mother’s Day. You do not want to wine and dine your mother.

19. Candles
They seem like a good gift, but in reality candles only get used when the power goes out. You might as well give her a flashlight.

20. Something for you
Don’t get her tickets to a sporting event involving your favorite team, or to a movie you really want to see. If you get more excited at the thought of having the gift than she would, don’t buy it.

21. A mix CD of bands you think she likes
This might have been an acceptable gift for mom when you were in middle school, but you know better by now. You don’t want to watch your mom force a smile through a long mix of songs she doesn’t enjoy while you celebrate her day of appreciation.

The opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Comcast.